Mr. Geerling Senior needs his own channel! He's charasmatic, well spoken, and can have Redshirt Jeff do silly things in the background. Great to see the whole family! Time to do an interview with Katie next. We want to know what's her line, she into tech too? Videography seems to be a starting point...
I've worked with many IP KVMs. On top of their usual lack of features (hdmi is rare, many don't even do USB) they tend to suck. Java based interfaces, mouse doesn't always work. The fact that this works even on your phone makes it better than pretty much everything else out there.
@@yudhavidian102 I've used them from time to time. I see they finally have switches with HTML. Still stupidly expensive though. My prediction is that we will see an overall price drop as a flood of Chinese manufacturers start skinning PiKVM and start producing equipment the same way openWRT caused a price drop/better flexibility in the Wifi Market.
I have seen lot of reviews over past years, but this is the first one that tell a tale of personal experience. Great work Jeff, I find inspiration in things you do.
As a father of two young boys, the picture of you using the computer as a baby contrasted with where you are today is very touching. Your father must be very proud. All the best to you both.
4:00 _'Setup was a little more difficult because it comes as a kit and you have to assemble all the parts yourself.'_ For some, that's a bug. For others, that's a feature.
In my case, I accidentally pinched the 5v fan wire in the GPIO pins... and the first time I turned it on some smoke started coming out. I thought I fried the whole thing, but luckily it was just some burning insulation on the fan wire.
@@MarcoGPUtuber Unfortunately of all the assembly process, I forgot to record "first boot". I should learn by now that's the shot that has the most potential for excitement!
You are a spitting image of your dad. The picture of him when he is younger looks a lot like you do now, if you didn't have facial hair. Uncanny! Great video and very helpful, thank you both!
I love the look of pride Mr Geerling had on being interviewed by his son the video personality! You both look alike at around that age. He seems the perfect dad that every kid might wish for and a great role model. Hopefully he will start his own channel or a joint channel. Loved the inside view on radio support. Great feedback on the device use experience and pros & cons. I like the definition of latency and the adjustments. The criteria for selection was really helpful. Well done Jeff! Superb video.
Absolutely brilliant production guys, what a brilliant family team. I was here for the details of the KVMs. I didn't expect such a superbly produced, informative and entertaining production. Respect!
How cool it is that you and you dad can talk tech like this. I'm your dads age but my kids went into medicine, so my old age will be well handled... but times like this would have been so great.
My friend. One time in my life, I would love my younger daughter (7 years old, already soldering with me) talking the same about me, like you introduced your dad! WOW!!! thanks for your content!!!
Funny how things change! During my brief stint in radio in the mid-90s, we were still using carts (more or less 8 track tapes) for commercials, background music during traffic reports, etc... I wonder how many people in radio today have *ever* grabbed a cart to play a commercial? :) We, as individual DJs, were just starting to bring our laptops in to play random sound effects at the time. It was a novelty.
I remember my first job in radio was helping decommission the cart machines; they were upgrading to CD players instead, so for a while there were 3 cart machines and 3 CD players with the CDs installed in 'carts' of their own. The wall of the studio was basically like a video store, with hundreds of carts and CDs for all the music and commercials the station would play. Back then disc jockeys were actually that-half their job was grabbing the programming binder and making sure to line up all the carts and CDs in the right order, then hit the button for each and every one (at least until basic automation was in place so the console could switch between them itself). A project soon after that was installing 'RCS' PCs for each studio, which involved importing thousands of reels, carts, and CDs into the system so the computer could play all the audio.
I had to make an ad and dub it to a cart for a radio course I took in college. Now you can just make an mp3 file or whatever audio format you like and push a button. No carts that jam.
@@JeffGeerling My first job in radio was helping move WIOD studio into new building sometime in 2000 - 2001 when I was a highschool kid. Then almost 20 years later I helped dismantle it all and replace it with modern IP audio tech but this time as a full time employee.
It's always amazing to find open source projects like the PiKVM that are both better and cheaper than existing solutions. Thanks for reviewing these products
@@JeffGeerling Lol. I look just like my dad (RIP). The difference is that I have extremely sensitive skin (due to a random genetic mutation) so I am often shirtless, whereas he was usually in a suit.
Thank you for review, I just ordered a PiKVM, which if it works well, I plan to deploy at each of my Clients' Offices with servers. Really enjoyed getting to see you hang out with your dad on this one. A little jealous, TBH. Enjoy the time you have together as much as possible. I can't even begin to express what it is like to lose that.
For a special project, perhaps. otherwise, I'd concentrate on RDP, remote management, powershell, etc first, and save the money for more useful endeavors.
@@MrPir84free RDP, Remote Utilities, and VPN are all deployed, but there are times, i just need to see the HDMI output and send HID. This is especially the case when dealing with hardware RAID, which seems to be interfaced with prior to the OS booting. This is especially true with my clients that have dell R720 servers in their office. But usually my go-to is RDP ove a VPN.
You talking to your Dad reminds me so much of my childhood. My own father was in a similar position for the first 20 years of his career and taught me heaps about electronics. Pre-internet though!
I especially enjoyed this video with a glimpse into modern broadcast radio engineering. I grew up with and around radio with my dad being a station manager for 32 years and in radio much longer than that. It is fun to see what lengths are necessary to achieve the 99% uptime your dad mentions.
Having an engineer as a father but with our only technical conversations being: "arguing about how greater he must be" on anything technical in-spite anything he may be lacking in current methodologies: I must present my admiration on your ties... It was really fun to meet your family Jeff.. You guys are just great!
You can get away with just the Pi hardware + USB HDMI capture card + USB-C cable, though I'd recommend the tiny pilot usb/power adapter if you intend on keeping the Pi running over a host reboot then just image the Pi with Pi-KVM and it works fine.
Woah! You get your well-spoken and detailed explanation skill from your dad! It'd be so cool if you posted more interviews or podcast style chats between you and your dad.
As an ex Iheart radio engineer this was all too familiar. I like that your dad even uses SDR for watching HD sidebands on FM signals. I used SDRPlay RSP1A to tune HD mask compliance of 40 kW FM tube transmitter.
I think he's trying to make sure the 'big' radio station to the left there doesn't start interfering with his tiny 250W transmitter in the case of what was on his screen that day. It's fun decoding signals though!
Why would anyone thumbs down .. it's great to see your dad on. Its great to see more about you and your family. Great video I'll have a look in buying one 😀
I recently built a new home server, and selected a server motherboard (ASRock Rack X570D4I-2T) that has an onboard BMC with KVM. It was not significantly more expensive, and the functionality (including IPMI interface from Linux) was well worth it. The most fun experience was upgrading the BIOS - before I even had a CPU installed! That's functionality that the external KVMs don't provide. Our home LAN is only remotely accessible via Wireguard, so secure access to the BMC/KVM is covered. I'll never build another computer without a BMC/KVM.
LOVE dad’s comment about losing three hours because he KNEW it was hooked up correctly. Best use case for time-messaging would be future-self telling me “Nope.”
$150 board, $50 pi, $100 4 port switch (with 50% discount). That is $350 already. Or $450 on a regular price. These "cheap" solutions are nowhere cheap at all.
I didn't thumb down this but it is a bad video because you can get way through it (about half way in my case) without being told exactly what these Pi KVMs are and how one uses them!!!
@@D9ID9I May be we have a misconception here between (i)KVM and IPMI. Jeff explained what IPMI is very briefly starting at 1:39. Don't confuse this with desktop (USB, HDMI, DP) or enterprise (IP-based) KVM Switches like ATEN's. This is supposed to plug into your computer to provide an IPMI interface which the computer doesn't provide or which is present but doen't fit your needs. You connect to the Pi to manage the computer like you would connect to an IPMI or a virtual machine console. I'm not a fan of giving one thing more than one name and confuse the heck out of others trying to make sense of marketing jargon either. But they've been pretty consistent with iKVM (integrated KVM).
Thank you for this review! I'm not gonna use such a KVM, but I can imagine this be useful and affordable for people, who do. Once I build a server and put it e.g in the basement, as a software developer I'm certainly going for the PI-KVM.
Also on a tight budget just go with a "Pi Zero 2" and an HDMI-CSI adapter. You will just have wifi to connect to it, but for adhocc problem solvings it would be great. And if you pair it with a smart plug you can have it dormant till you need it. Dont forget about tailscale if you want to reach it from anywhere no port forwards needed and it goes out on any firewall 99.9999% (but to draw the screen and also push it over VPN with tailscale it will realy limit the fps of your grabbing. In my test to 1-3fps over tailscale and) without vpn it shows about 15-25fps whch is enough if you trouble shoot a critical error remotely. Maybe some OverClocking can solve this just make sure to cool the little guy enough for it. Nice little tool for people on a budget This Is The Way.
Most people’s parents are fighting with HDMI 2 and Jeff’s pop is creating high class problems like picking a 100mbs port over a 1gig. Bro got a new subscriber. I’d subscribe to the dads channel too. Btw, kvm is common on the cable tv industry as well.
This is so cool, I was planning to make something like this w/ RPi but I didn't know it is called KVM, I guess Internet gods heard me and helped me to find this video.
I liked the video. I had thought about using a Pi for this, but haven't found the time to look into it. Glad to see that it has been done and I could deploy without a great deal of work. I was also glad to see that security was mentioned as a consideration and perhaps less of an afterthought. I thought that I heard a suggestion of powering the Pi from the host's USB. If I heard that properly, I would want to verify that works completely before doing so, particularly if the intent is to include control of the host's power. Powering off the host may also cut power to the Pi.
I subscribed because of the way you explain everything, and you have a great personality. I love the bloopers at the end, its great to see you do edit out the mistakes but you show at the end, that you are not perfect and you have some fun with it and yourself. Great channel, love all the projects I have seen so far.
I have to admit something. I have nothing to do with PI things and most of the stuff Jeff is talking about on his channel, but I found myself coming back here like a vampire that's looking for a fresh bite. Jeff is so chill and the content so interesting and somehow relaxing. I could basically listen to him four hours. When I was a kid I used to hack and crack my computer and other devices and it makes me want to get a PI and just try out different things. It reminds me of the time of technical exploring and expression as a kid/teen. Luckily, I am a nomad and photographer now, which makes me very satisfied with emotional and creative expression, but I feel having a bit of coding and tinkering would make my mind so much more chill. I wonder what I could make that's useful. It's so interesting!
Are you me? I do (well did, now it's mostly for this channel) a lot of photography, and as a teen I would spend a ton of time figuring out how to break and fix anything on any of the PC hardware my Dad would bring home. I learned how to build and repair computers then and started doing it enough to buy a few new rigs for myself. That's where I started doing video, using a miniDV camera and a Mac G3 with FireWire back in 1999! And now I get to do the same thing today but also share what I learn here. It's tons of fun!
@@JeffGeerling Oh man, thank you for sharing! Haha, definitely sounds like we had a similar childhood. I absolutely loved to understand the tech I was using and build my own computer or repair stuff. But I also had a technical limit because back then I wasn't able to get too much into hardware. I grew up in Germany, but my parents were immigrants from Poland, so we had a bit of a financial limit or even understanding what's out there. My playground was more software sided, and I liked it. But to be honest, that's why I love the PI so much. It looks like something I would have loved back in the days (I sound so old, I was born in 1987, but on the internet timeline I am a boomer). At the same time, I was playing soccer at an academy and at one point I had to decide where I put my time in. However, all the computer stuff is still deep in my heart and since I am traveling a lot in undeveloped countries and volunteering, I am constantly finding myself thinking about how I could make use of that. I mean, there are several great use cases. I might just get one and explore all the possibilities to understand all of its potential better :) Anyway, just want to let you know that I am a keen watcher and I appreciate your content. I don't sell anything, but if you would like to have a look at my photos (as a fellow photographer), just google "oliver maximilian kulturhybrid". It should lead you to my dot com site. I am mostly in the eastern parts of the world, but maybe we cross paths one day and have a little exchange. I would be great! Until then, best luck with your channel and thank you again for sharing :)
@@OliverMaximilian Thanks! And interestingly, I made the decision to not go too deep into soccer (my family is originally from the Netherlands, tons of soccer runs deep in my blood... look up Bernie Geerling!)-and that must've freed up the extra time for my computing pursuits. I did play for a hear in high school, but switched to volleyball and focused on that as my main sport... until Crohn's disease kind of knocked me out of commission for anything beyond playing for fun!
I don’t think I remember anytime with my dad at the transmitter at KMOX-TV, he was full time at the transmitter site back in 69-70 or so. But I loved touring the TV station, always a bit treat to me!
That was a great video. I have a brother in radio where's he's the IT guy that has to keep all the stations running, and he lives a 30 minute drive from the main station, plus additional time to get the to transmitters. Also, it was great seeing your dad in the video. He's very professional and knowledgeable. And, yes, you look just like him now as he did in the photo. :) Thanks for posting. :)
I know of some radio stations now that don't even retain a full time employee for their IT or engineering needs... many are trying to consolidate to one regional engineer for dozens or even hundreds of stations!
Not exactly my KVM "reqirements", they are more for local use at my desk. (1) Desktop computer (2) Laptop computer (3) Android tablet (4) Android phone I mostly work on the desktop computer, but sometimes do tasks on the laptop as well. The android devices are mostly just docked, but for convenience, it is easier to switch KM than to pick them for minor tasks, mostly like miscellaneous methods for authentication. A: chose between either device to be controlled by Keyboard+Mouse, but ghosting semi passive keyboard+mouse to inactive device (not connect/disconnect on every switch). As long as there are some action on the K+M, there should be option for some insignificant action to the passive device, to avoid screen lock time out. B: independently chose computer for a monitor. Today I use: A simple 4-port mechanickal USB-switch A simple independent HDMI-switch -- It does the job, but one thing I would relay enjoy is some way to share clipboard between the devices, mostly just to copy/paste a short text. I have no idea on any way to get a shared clipboard.
I suggest you try VNC, but I do not know if you can run the server element under Android. I control a RasPiOS Linux Raspberry Pi Zero from my Linux AMD64 machine. As was discussed in the video, you do have a bit of latency. With the PiZero the network link is over WiFi. But I can copy text in the local machine and paste that into the VNC remote console, and vice versa. I just checked again to make sure I am not misremembering what I have been doing, and so leading you astray. :-) VNC does also provide a file transfer function between the machines, but I have never used it. While I was checking this out I ran a OS update on the PiZero. For most of my other computers I use a traditional DVI/USB KVM switch, not an iKVM. I do not need, or want to run the risk associated with, remote access over iKVM.... but I never know when I might need it.
I have been commissioning KVM-IP system for a control system for heating plants. Those plants might be 300km depart each another, and are managed from centralized command center. There is own private fiber network between those plants and command center. I can tell those Blackbox KVM products that we have been using are way more expensive (and maybe reliable) than PI will ever be. But i think there is definitely many use cases, where some of those lower-end solutions like PIs might be more suitable.
problem is, with the blackbox solution, how do i assess the reliability? the security of it? At least here, we can know, and take measures :) (main reliability issue for me with the pi is the SD card, so having read only OS, or a SSD solves it). But i agree that some closed solution may be built to extremely high standards. I am not in your shoes, so i don't know if i would dare putting the pikvm in place on very remote and very critical facilities...
@@AudreyRobinel I am sure anyone in charge of the computer asset on the other end of one of these devices either knows where pi based KVM-IP solutions are relevant, or are about to create a job opening for someone that does. Either way, these devices are a win-win for everyone.
@@jong2359 Hey i did not say i didn't like those, on the contrary, i'd rather have those than the blackbox ones. I was just stating that i am in no position where a failing ip-kvm could be a big problem. I am all in for open source technologies, especially for things that are critical to me. Also a problem with closed source blackbox solutions is that you have one you like, you set up a workflow around it, and then the product dies or whatever, and the new verstion is different, incompatible with your stuff. Open source can have breaking changes, but i can always revert to an older version of the software, even for just enough time to adapt my stuff to the latest version... I really don't like the arbitrary nature of closed source stuff in that regard.
Hi, Jeff! You should do a video about how you would wire your house for networking if you could start with a clean slate - equipment, routers, switches, cabling, wifi, etc.
Such therapeutic content...such fun people and suffciently sophisticated technical stuff........unconditional love for you man and the entire community!!
Ok 2 years late, but I have to say seeing csrds running was nostalgic since I am a radio tech. It's sad that Stu Buck (the software writer) sold it to Xperi who has since discontinued all ArcticPalm software... Anyway thank you Jeff for all the great pi videos!
TH-cam brought me here and somehow determined that I to am someone who got into technology due to their dad. Cool, cool, I'll hit that subscribe button.
Certain server brands, like Dell, for instance, the solution is called DRAC ( dell remote access console ) but their support really depends upon such a solution for troubleshooting hardware, especially for failed hardware. On other systems, it might be called ILO for integrated lights out. Premise is the same; their techs do really depend upon such hardware for access. These Pi KVM's would be a great fit for accessing servers remotely after the system has booted, but I don't see them as being as developed as DRAC/ILO's are. In today's corporate world, especially if they are contractors that work with any government agency, the #1 concern is security along with hardening. For a number of years, we did use multi-port IP KVM's, but that fell out of favor a decade or so back. They were expensive, and often gave no more functionality than these Pi KVM's. Hardware devices integrated into the servers, like DRAC's/ ILO's took over. As we move to cloud based resources, well, even that level of access is partially gone. But then, with cloud based, we no longer have to foot the hardware bill either.
These devices are targeted on the lower end, SMB and homelabbers who might not have servers with built in management (or it's so old it's effectively insecure or unusable).
Oh my goodness! This is amazing! I thought something like this was possible with a pi or similar ... but I don't have the skills to make 1 from scratch or what have you. Most of the systems I manage have ipmi but glad i got a alternative for the ones that do not! I honestly was thinking about buying a expensive ip kvm but not anymore.
jeff i'm almost your fathers vintage bud. i grew up with Compaq and the later HP KVM which were available via VPN, we're going a long way but hard to believe that architecture like this still exists. ILO/RIB/DRAC were a thing :)
This is the first time I watched one of your TH-cam videos. If I can make a suggestion. At the beginning of your video, please briefly explain the technology. I know it's hard to believe, but there are people who have no idea what KVM means. I looked it up. Keyboard, Video, Mouse.
Good point-I sometimes forget that the 'older' tech I talk about sometimes, especially if it's something only a smaller part of the industry still uses, are less known these days. I try to always at least add some explanatory text when I introduce a new acronym, but I forgot to do that in this video!
you dad reminds me of my late grand dad. he was a engineer for a TVA nuclear plant. he always tried to foster a love and interest in technical ideas, computers and science in me and my brother. im really thankful for all that he had done for me, inspiring me and motivating me,
I remember your Mom's story but never knew your Dad worked for Catholic radio. I worked at Catholic radio at the time our paths crossed. Great to bring him in and thanks for your videos.
What a wonderful video. Made me smile. I'm lucky to also have a good relationship with my father. Was not till I got older I realised how special that is. We're lucky men. ☺️
It is a huge blessing-and to have him in good health... so few people get to have parents who live a long life, but also get to have a great relationship. I try to be that way for my kids too, though the four year old is currently in a strong Jekyll and Hyde phase!
I have boards with IPMI, but many of them are like: "If I'd known this particular IPMI was going to suck *this much*, I would've gone with a different board." But then, I'll bet they *all* suck in *different ways!* For example, Asrock X570D4U.... the framebuffer is 800x600 (not even 1024x768), and the serial-over-lan is wired up in hardware but not in BIOS.
I've watched a bunch of your videos on Pi stuff, and enjoyed them. I've also heard you on several episodes of Talking Drupal, where you mentioned some of your Pi projects, and thought I must check them out. Only just made the connection...
I found a much cheaper solution to reboot locked up pi’s in my Kubernetes lab. I use a HomeKit power strip from Kasa. It costs $50 and I can remotely turn off and back on a any of my systems. This doesn’t handle the KVM part of course, but helps with automated reboot of nodes that get swamped.
Great pic LOL! When I was about 15, my Dad who taught me everything he knew about computers(R.I.P.) had bought a new Gateway PC, and my little brother who was about 2 or 3 at the time, inserted a quarter into the floppy disk drive while it was idle and fried the computer.... My Dad was soooo bummed but said to me "Ya know what, it could've been worse, he could've stuck the quarter in his mouth instead".... What I found funniest was, he hadn't even seen an arcade machine yet!!
Just came here to say Hello to your dad. Now we know where all the techi-ness in Jeff comes from.. :). Sir! we would love to see more of you on this channel..God bless.
AWESOME, Dad and Mon, you did a great job w your "boy"! The videos are entertaining, interesting and helpful. Jeff, keep up the great work. I know you put MANY hours into them. PS, Love the bloopers!
This was an EXCELLENT video and I learned a lot. I gave up on waiting for the Pi-KVM so I sourced parts to build my own. Just as I sat down and started constructing it the Pi-KVM appeared on Kickstarter again!!! This time it will include a metal case kit with it!
Mr. Geerling Senior needs his own channel! He's charasmatic, well spoken, and can have Redshirt Jeff do silly things in the background. Great to see the whole family! Time to do an interview with Katie next. We want to know what's her line, she into tech too? Videography seems to be a starting point...
I agree.. I would love to follow someone who is a radio engineer on a tech channel like this! He was great!
J
Definitely have Katie on. If Stephen Colbert can have Evie on, Jeff can do no less for his mom.
Yes, I'd love to hear about his Software Defined Radio setup that we saw at the end of the clip. Does he use it to transmit?
I've worked with many IP KVMs. On top of their usual lack of features (hdmi is rare, many don't even do USB) they tend to suck. Java based interfaces, mouse doesn't always work. The fact that this works even on your phone makes it better than pretty much everything else out there.
Amen, the amount of times I have had to go into a data centre just to reset a KVM…….
have you use Raritan KVM? or know about it>>
@@yudhavidian102 I've used them from time to time. I see they finally have switches with HTML. Still stupidly expensive though.
My prediction is that we will see an overall price drop as a flood of Chinese manufacturers start skinning PiKVM and start producing equipment the same way openWRT caused a price drop/better flexibility in the Wifi Market.
@@pkf4124 Can't you use a KVM to control the KVM?
@DOOM GRIFTER raritan kvm now does not use java... free java...i know cuz i use it full UST+KVM and CCSG..
Jeff: Your father is GOLD! Wish I had a father like him!
Mine is dead from a heart attack. Make do.
I have seen lot of reviews over past years, but this is the first one that tell a tale of personal experience. Great work Jeff, I find inspiration in things you do.
As a father of two young boys, the picture of you using the computer as a baby contrasted with where you are today is very touching. Your father must be very proud. All the best to you both.
4:00 _'Setup was a little more difficult because it comes as a kit and you have to assemble all the parts yourself.'_
For some, that's a bug. For others, that's a feature.
In my case, I accidentally pinched the 5v fan wire in the GPIO pins... and the first time I turned it on some smoke started coming out.
I thought I fried the whole thing, but luckily it was just some burning insulation on the fan wire.
@@JeffGeerling Ouch! Maybe I should send you some wire splicing materials to get that all fixed up ;)
Please say that's in the bloopers.
@@MarcoGPUtuber Unfortunately of all the assembly process, I forgot to record "first boot".
I should learn by now that's the shot that has the most potential for excitement!
@@JeffGeerling Exactly! Same with the 2.5G Card. We missed the magic smoke and had to settle on a re-enactment.
It's also not the case anymore, because of the kickstarter you can get a PIKVM in a metal case.
You are a spitting image of your dad. The picture of him when he is younger looks a lot like you do now, if you didn't have facial hair. Uncanny! Great video and very helpful, thank you both!
I love the look of pride Mr Geerling had on being interviewed by his son the video personality! You both look alike at around that age. He seems the perfect dad that every kid might wish for and a great role model. Hopefully he will start his own channel or a joint channel. Loved the inside view on radio support.
Great feedback on the device use experience and pros & cons.
I like the definition of latency and the adjustments. The criteria for selection was really helpful.
Well done Jeff! Superb video.
I would love to see some RTL-SDR stuff. Even just showing how cheap the radio is and the basic stuff you can do with it.
It shall be done!
@@JeffGeerling Also some RPi Outernet aka Othernet stuff pls..
Absolutely brilliant production guys, what a brilliant family team. I was here for the details of the KVMs. I didn't expect such a superbly produced, informative and entertaining production. Respect!
How cool it is that you and you dad can talk tech like this. I'm your dads age but my kids went into medicine, so my old age will be well handled... but times like this would have been so great.
My friend. One time in my life, I would love my younger daughter (7 years old, already soldering with me) talking the same about me, like you introduced your dad! WOW!!! thanks for your content!!!
Funny how things change! During my brief stint in radio in the mid-90s, we were still using carts (more or less 8 track tapes) for commercials, background music during traffic reports, etc... I wonder how many people in radio today have *ever* grabbed a cart to play a commercial? :) We, as individual DJs, were just starting to bring our laptops in to play random sound effects at the time. It was a novelty.
I remember my first job in radio was helping decommission the cart machines; they were upgrading to CD players instead, so for a while there were 3 cart machines and 3 CD players with the CDs installed in 'carts' of their own. The wall of the studio was basically like a video store, with hundreds of carts and CDs for all the music and commercials the station would play.
Back then disc jockeys were actually that-half their job was grabbing the programming binder and making sure to line up all the carts and CDs in the right order, then hit the button for each and every one (at least until basic automation was in place so the console could switch between them itself).
A project soon after that was installing 'RCS' PCs for each studio, which involved importing thousands of reels, carts, and CDs into the system so the computer could play all the audio.
I had to make an ad and dub it to a cart for a radio course I took in college. Now you can just make an mp3 file or whatever audio format you like and push a button. No carts that jam.
@@JeffGeerling My first job in radio was helping move WIOD studio into new building sometime in 2000 - 2001 when I was a highschool kid. Then almost 20 years later I helped dismantle it all and replace it with modern IP audio tech but this time as a full time employee.
My dad taught me my first math and science lesson, he witnessed me receiving my PhD. Watching you and your dad really reminds me of my late dad.
The part with your dad is just so wholesome!
It's always amazing to find open source projects like the PiKVM that are both better and cheaper than existing solutions. Thanks for reviewing these products
A RPI Compute Module 4 IO Board for PiKVM th-cam.com/video/aehOawHklGE/w-d-xo.html
I enjoy how young Dad Geerling looks exactly like current Jeff
Except I keep my shirt on! Most of the time, at least.
I was going to say, Jeff your Snapchat “Dad Filter” Ain’t foolin anyone.
@Jeff Geerling knowing what he will look like in old age ...wait is that time travel?
@@JeffGeerling Does he even recompile the kernel xd
@@JeffGeerling Lol. I look just like my dad (RIP). The difference is that I have extremely sensitive skin (due to a random genetic mutation) so I am often shirtless, whereas he was usually in a suit.
Thank you for review, I just ordered a PiKVM, which if it works well, I plan to deploy at each of my
Clients' Offices with servers. Really enjoyed getting to see you hang out with your dad on this one. A
little jealous, TBH. Enjoy the time you have together as much as possible. I can't even begin to
express what it is like to lose that.
Don, I fully echo those sentiments, I too have been in that position of losing my dad's companionship...
For a special project, perhaps. otherwise, I'd concentrate on RDP, remote management, powershell, etc first, and save the money for more useful endeavors.
@@MrPir84free RDP, Remote Utilities, and VPN are all deployed, but there are times, i just need to see the HDMI output and send HID. This is especially the case when dealing with hardware RAID, which seems to be interfaced with prior to the OS booting. This is especially true with my clients that have dell R720 servers in their office. But usually my go-to is RDP ove a VPN.
Great introduction to these KVM over net / IP devices. PiKVM seems like a winner to me.
You talking to your Dad reminds me so much of my childhood. My own father was in a similar position for the first 20 years of his career and taught me heaps about electronics. Pre-internet though!
I'm jealous of how cool (great) your dad is. Cheers to you and your family for taking the time to make this!
Jeff, Jeff's cousin, Jeff's dad, Jeff's sister., Jeff's red shirted twin... I love that Jeff's family is willing to help him with his great videos.
I especially enjoyed this video with a glimpse into modern broadcast radio engineering. I grew up with and around radio with my dad being a station manager for 32 years and in radio much longer than that. It is fun to see what lengths are necessary to achieve the 99% uptime your dad mentions.
Having an engineer as a father but with our only technical conversations being: "arguing about how greater he must be" on anything technical in-spite anything he may be lacking in current methodologies: I must present my admiration on your ties... It was really fun to meet your family Jeff.. You guys are just great!
You've inspired me to go bug my boss to put this functionality in the NAS. Boy will the developers be happy to see me tomorrow.
You'll get some NASty stares tomorrow.
Is this a time to get a NAS included a KVM function?
Would love that feature!
@@JeffGeerling I don't care. Gotta make it easy for the customer and compete!
@@ASUSTOR_YT If that follows through I can go bug my boss to look at purchasing one of those!
You can get away with just the Pi hardware + USB HDMI capture card + USB-C cable, though I'd recommend the tiny pilot usb/power adapter if you intend on keeping the Pi running over a host reboot then just image the Pi with Pi-KVM and it works fine.
How cool is that! Interview Dad! No wonder you are such a great nerd and teacher. You guys are a blessing. Thank you so much for such a great video!
I just learned about and backed the Pi KVM a couple weeks ago. Love the idea of getting IPMI-like control without a server mobo.
Goosebumbs!! when I saw elders like your Father in tech. Why are they not in my family..😢
PiKVM with RPi zero w - total win for supporting parent's notebook when it does not connect to internet due to "some error" :)
Woah! You get your well-spoken and detailed explanation skill from your dad! It'd be so cool if you posted more interviews or podcast style chats between you and your dad.
That's exactly what we're planning over on th-cam.com/users/GeerlingEngineering :)
Great video with the real world example from your father!
That clock at the end was amazing, and a nice touch. Kudos.
Oh yeah, an analog clock using a arduino nano I believe...such a cool build
Great to see your Dad on the channel and his background, excellent to see and hear his experience with the devices.
As an ex Iheart radio engineer this was all too familiar. I like that your dad even uses SDR for watching HD sidebands on FM signals. I used SDRPlay RSP1A to tune HD mask compliance of 40 kW FM tube transmitter.
I think he's trying to make sure the 'big' radio station to the left there doesn't start interfering with his tiny 250W transmitter in the case of what was on his screen that day. It's fun decoding signals though!
Why would anyone thumbs down .. it's great to see your dad on. Its great to see more about you and your family. Great video I'll have a look in buying one 😀
I recently built a new home server, and selected a server motherboard (ASRock Rack X570D4I-2T) that has an onboard BMC with KVM. It was not significantly more expensive, and the functionality (including IPMI interface from Linux) was well worth it. The most fun experience was upgrading the BIOS - before I even had a CPU installed! That's functionality that the external KVMs don't provide. Our home LAN is only remotely accessible via Wireguard, so secure access to the BMC/KVM is covered. I'll never build another computer without a BMC/KVM.
The difference is that many guys here now will gonna spend over $200 to control $50 pi device. Doesn't sounds smart.
LOVE dad’s comment about losing three hours because he KNEW it was hooked up correctly.
Best use case for time-messaging would be future-self telling me “Nope.”
42 dislikes from people who already bought KVM for over $500 before this video
45 now, probably some now that read your comment
$150 board, $50 pi, $100 4 port switch (with 50% discount). That is $350 already. Or $450 on a regular price. These "cheap" solutions are nowhere cheap at all.
@@D9ID9I you assume the 4-port switch, but all you need is a free port on the switch that feeds the machine anyway.
I didn't thumb down this but it is a bad video because you can get way through it (about half way in my case) without being told exactly what these Pi KVMs are and how one uses them!!!
@@D9ID9I May be we have a misconception here between (i)KVM and IPMI. Jeff explained what IPMI is very briefly starting at 1:39. Don't confuse this with desktop (USB, HDMI, DP) or enterprise (IP-based) KVM Switches like ATEN's. This is supposed to plug into your computer to provide an IPMI interface which the computer doesn't provide or which is present but doen't fit your needs. You connect to the Pi to manage the computer like you would connect to an IPMI or a virtual machine console.
I'm not a fan of giving one thing more than one name and confuse the heck out of others trying to make sense of marketing jargon either. But they've been pretty consistent with iKVM (integrated KVM).
Thank you for this review! I'm not gonna use such a KVM, but I can imagine this be useful and affordable for people, who do. Once I build a server and put it e.g in the basement, as a software developer I'm certainly going for the PI-KVM.
Also on a tight budget just go with a "Pi Zero 2" and an HDMI-CSI adapter. You will just have wifi to connect to it, but for adhocc problem solvings it would be great. And if you pair it with a smart plug you can have it dormant till you need it. Dont forget about tailscale if you want to reach it from anywhere no port forwards needed and it goes out on any firewall 99.9999% (but to draw the screen and also push it over VPN with tailscale it will realy limit the fps of your grabbing. In my test to 1-3fps over tailscale and) without vpn it shows about 15-25fps whch is enough if you trouble shoot a critical error remotely. Maybe some OverClocking can solve this just make sure to cool the little guy enough for it. Nice little tool for people on a budget This Is The Way.
Most people’s parents are fighting with HDMI 2 and Jeff’s pop is creating high class problems like picking a 100mbs port over a 1gig.
Bro got a new subscriber. I’d subscribe to the dads channel too.
Btw, kvm is common on the cable tv industry as well.
Great interview! Mr Geerling ia very funny and charismatic! Congrats for the great relationship you have with your father.
I recently bought an HPE Proliant Microserver Gen 10 Plus and I bought the $35 iLO kit that does this exact thing and I love it.
13:43 I love the way he described the latency is 😂
This is so cool, I was planning to make something like this w/ RPi but I didn't know it is called KVM, I guess Internet gods heard me and helped me to find this video.
I liked the video. I had thought about using a Pi for this, but haven't found the time to look into it. Glad to see that it has been done and I could deploy without a great deal of work. I was also glad to see that security was mentioned as a consideration and perhaps less of an afterthought. I thought that I heard a suggestion of powering the Pi from the host's USB. If I heard that properly, I would want to verify that works completely before doing so, particularly if the intent is to include control of the host's power. Powering off the host may also cut power to the Pi.
I subscribed because of the way you explain everything, and you have a great personality. I love the bloopers at the end, its great to see you do edit out the mistakes but you show at the end, that you are not perfect and you have some fun with it and yourself. Great channel, love all the projects I have seen so far.
i definitely want more videos with your Dad, it's very interesting!
I have to admit something. I have nothing to do with PI things and most of the stuff Jeff is talking about on his channel, but I found myself coming back here like a vampire that's looking for a fresh bite. Jeff is so chill and the content so interesting and somehow relaxing. I could basically listen to him four hours. When I was a kid I used to hack and crack my computer and other devices and it makes me want to get a PI and just try out different things. It reminds me of the time of technical exploring and expression as a kid/teen. Luckily, I am a nomad and photographer now, which makes me very satisfied with emotional and creative expression, but I feel having a bit of coding and tinkering would make my mind so much more chill. I wonder what I could make that's useful. It's so interesting!
Are you me? I do (well did, now it's mostly for this channel) a lot of photography, and as a teen I would spend a ton of time figuring out how to break and fix anything on any of the PC hardware my Dad would bring home. I learned how to build and repair computers then and started doing it enough to buy a few new rigs for myself. That's where I started doing video, using a miniDV camera and a Mac G3 with FireWire back in 1999!
And now I get to do the same thing today but also share what I learn here. It's tons of fun!
@@JeffGeerling Oh man, thank you for sharing! Haha, definitely sounds like we had a similar childhood. I absolutely loved to understand the tech I was using and build my own computer or repair stuff. But I also had a technical limit because back then I wasn't able to get too much into hardware. I grew up in Germany, but my parents were immigrants from Poland, so we had a bit of a financial limit or even understanding what's out there. My playground was more software sided, and I liked it. But to be honest, that's why I love the PI so much. It looks like something I would have loved back in the days (I sound so old, I was born in 1987, but on the internet timeline I am a boomer). At the same time, I was playing soccer at an academy and at one point I had to decide where I put my time in. However, all the computer stuff is still deep in my heart and since I am traveling a lot in undeveloped countries and volunteering, I am constantly finding myself thinking about how I could make use of that. I mean, there are several great use cases. I might just get one and explore all the possibilities to understand all of its potential better :)
Anyway, just want to let you know that I am a keen watcher and I appreciate your content. I don't sell anything, but if you would like to have a look at my photos (as a fellow photographer), just google "oliver maximilian kulturhybrid". It should lead you to my dot com site. I am mostly in the eastern parts of the world, but maybe we cross paths one day and have a little exchange. I would be great! Until then, best luck with your channel and thank you again for sharing :)
@@OliverMaximilian Thanks! And interestingly, I made the decision to not go too deep into soccer (my family is originally from the Netherlands, tons of soccer runs deep in my blood... look up Bernie Geerling!)-and that must've freed up the extra time for my computing pursuits. I did play for a hear in high school, but switched to volleyball and focused on that as my main sport... until Crohn's disease kind of knocked me out of commission for anything beyond playing for fun!
@@JeffGeerling Haha. Seems like our existence and choice for or against soccer keeps the world in balance. I am glad it worked out for all of us 🙏🏻
@@OliverMaximilian Indeed!
I don’t think I remember anytime with my dad at the transmitter at KMOX-TV, he was full time at the transmitter site back in 69-70 or so. But I loved touring the TV station, always a bit treat to me!
That was a great video. I have a brother in radio where's he's the IT guy that has to keep all the stations running, and he lives a 30 minute drive from the main station, plus additional time to get the to transmitters. Also, it was great seeing your dad in the video. He's very professional and knowledgeable. And, yes, you look just like him now as he did in the photo. :) Thanks for posting. :)
I know of some radio stations now that don't even retain a full time employee for their IT or engineering needs... many are trying to consolidate to one regional engineer for dozens or even hundreds of stations!
@@JeffGeerling It's all about profit margins.
Not exactly my KVM "reqirements", they are more for local use at my desk.
(1) Desktop computer
(2) Laptop computer
(3) Android tablet
(4) Android phone
I mostly work on the desktop computer, but sometimes do tasks on the laptop as well. The android devices are mostly just docked, but for convenience, it is easier to switch KM than to pick them for minor tasks, mostly like miscellaneous methods for authentication.
A: chose between either device to be controlled by Keyboard+Mouse, but ghosting semi passive keyboard+mouse to inactive device (not connect/disconnect on every switch). As long as there are some action on the K+M, there should be option for some insignificant action to the passive device, to avoid screen lock time out.
B: independently chose computer for a monitor.
Today I use:
A simple 4-port mechanickal USB-switch
A simple independent HDMI-switch
-- It does the job, but one thing I would relay enjoy is some way to share clipboard between the devices, mostly just to copy/paste a short text. I have no idea on any way to get a shared clipboard.
I suggest you try VNC, but I do not know if you can run the server element under Android. I control a RasPiOS Linux Raspberry Pi Zero from my Linux AMD64 machine. As was discussed in the video, you do have a bit of latency. With the PiZero the network link is over WiFi.
But I can copy text in the local machine and paste that into the VNC remote console, and vice versa. I just checked again to make sure I am not misremembering what I have been doing, and so leading you astray. :-) VNC does also provide a file transfer function between the machines, but I have never used it.
While I was checking this out I ran a OS update on the PiZero. For most of my other computers I use a traditional DVI/USB KVM switch, not an iKVM. I do not need, or want to run the risk associated with, remote access over iKVM.... but I never know when I might need it.
Can't wait to control Jeff's Mac Mini with a Raspberry Pi!
Thanks for watching!😊 Don't forget to hit the subscribe button! Text me on What sApp for more info and guardians🇱🇷❤️.. here is the number ⬇️
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This is the best use of a pi I've ever heard.
BLIKVM IS A RPI Compute Module 4 IO Board for PiKVM th-cam.com/video/aehOawHklGE/w-d-xo.html
Requesting to have a "With my Dad" series, that would be awesome!
I have been commissioning KVM-IP system for a control system for heating plants. Those plants might be 300km depart each another, and are managed from centralized command center. There is own private fiber network between those plants and command center. I can tell those Blackbox KVM products that we have been using are way more expensive (and maybe reliable) than PI will ever be. But i think there is definitely many use cases, where some of those lower-end solutions like PIs might be more suitable.
problem is, with the blackbox solution, how do i assess the reliability? the security of it?
At least here, we can know, and take measures :) (main reliability issue for me with the pi is the SD card, so having read only OS, or a SSD solves it).
But i agree that some closed solution may be built to extremely high standards. I am not in your shoes, so i don't know if i would dare putting the pikvm in place on very remote and very critical facilities...
@@AudreyRobinel I am sure anyone in charge of the computer asset on the other end of one of these devices either knows where pi based KVM-IP solutions are relevant, or are about to create a job opening for someone that does. Either way, these devices are a win-win for everyone.
@@jong2359 Hey i did not say i didn't like those, on the contrary, i'd rather have those than the blackbox ones. I was just stating that i am in no position where a failing ip-kvm could be a big problem.
I am all in for open source technologies, especially for things that are critical to me.
Also a problem with closed source blackbox solutions is that you have one you like, you set up a workflow around it, and then the product dies or whatever, and the new verstion is different, incompatible with your stuff. Open source can have breaking changes, but i can always revert to an older version of the software, even for just enough time to adapt my stuff to the latest version...
I really don't like the arbitrary nature of closed source stuff in that regard.
This is love. Surely your dad is now reaping what he sow teaching you in tech
Awesome crossover video featuring your family! Also, I loved that clock at the end of the video
Hi, Jeff! You should do a video about how you would wire your house for networking if you could start with a clean slate - equipment, routers, switches, cabling, wifi, etc.
Such therapeutic content...such fun people and suffciently sophisticated technical stuff........unconditional love for you man and the entire community!!
your dad knows his stuff, thats awesome . I would be so freakin proud
As just an enthusiast I wouldn't really need it.
But this device is so useful !
Also Jeff has the coolest dad ever !
As a sysadmin this is an amazing product Im surprised didn't exist when I needed this solution
Ok 2 years late, but I have to say seeing csrds running was nostalgic since I am a radio tech. It's sad that Stu Buck (the software writer) sold it to Xperi who has since discontinued all ArcticPalm software... Anyway thank you Jeff for all the great pi videos!
TH-cam brought me here and somehow determined that I to am someone who got into technology due to their dad. Cool, cool, I'll hit that subscribe button.
Hey Jeff, your future/past self editing is really working out nicely!
I use ESP32 for similar purpose. It does power on/restart using commands sent over MQTT. It costed less than $5
I love to see interview of your dad, he is lucky to have son like you who is as strong as him technically..😊
Certain server brands, like Dell, for instance, the solution is called DRAC ( dell remote access console ) but their support really depends upon such a solution for troubleshooting hardware, especially for failed hardware. On other systems, it might be called ILO for integrated lights out. Premise is the same; their techs do really depend upon such hardware for access. These Pi KVM's would be a great fit for accessing servers remotely after the system has booted, but I don't see them as being as developed as DRAC/ILO's are.
In today's corporate world, especially if they are contractors that work with any government agency, the #1 concern is security along with hardening.
For a number of years, we did use multi-port IP KVM's, but that fell out of favor a decade or so back. They were expensive, and often gave no more functionality than these Pi KVM's. Hardware devices integrated into the servers, like DRAC's/ ILO's took over.
As we move to cloud based resources, well, even that level of access is partially gone. But then, with cloud based, we no longer have to foot the hardware bill either.
These devices are targeted on the lower end, SMB and homelabbers who might not have servers with built in management (or it's so old it's effectively insecure or unusable).
Great to see your Dad on your videos - and to see Voceware VClock for monitoring in the background too
The UI for that clock is funky and feels slightly dated but in a fun 'this used to be a real display board' way.
Oh my goodness! This is amazing! I thought something like this was possible with a pi or similar ... but I don't have the skills to make 1 from scratch or what have you. Most of the systems I manage have ipmi but glad i got a alternative for the ones that do not! I honestly was thinking about buying a expensive ip kvm but not anymore.
holy crap I love that front power connector pin interface. Never again have a system hard freeze!
jeff i'm almost your fathers vintage bud. i grew up with Compaq and the later HP KVM which were available via VPN, we're going a long way but hard to believe that architecture like this still exists. ILO/RIB/DRAC were a thing :)
This is the first time I watched one of your TH-cam videos. If I can make a suggestion. At the beginning of your video, please briefly explain the technology. I know it's hard to believe, but there are people who have no idea what KVM means. I looked it up. Keyboard, Video, Mouse.
Good point-I sometimes forget that the 'older' tech I talk about sometimes, especially if it's something only a smaller part of the industry still uses, are less known these days. I try to always at least add some explanatory text when I introduce a new acronym, but I forgot to do that in this video!
you dad reminds me of my late grand dad. he was a engineer for a TVA nuclear plant. he always tried to foster a love and interest in technical ideas, computers and science in me and my brother. im really thankful for all that he had done for me, inspiring me and motivating me,
I absolutely LOVE that clock display…!!!
What is it???
What software is it??
I want!!
7:54 Pro tip: 9.9999% is still five-nines of uptime!
BOTH projects missed the opportunity to name themselves Pi-PMI or IPM-Pi
Heh. Or 0.99999%!
99.999%? I like IPM-Pi.
or 9999.9 and 999.99 🤷♂️
The latency line had me laughing. xD That was so wholesome.
Loved this video! Might try a Pi-KVM with my old Mac Mini Server o.o
I'm been a backer for quite some time and even built my own. Love this thing.
This is exactly why I love this channel. Keep up the good work!
I remember your Mom's story but never knew your Dad worked for Catholic radio. I worked at Catholic radio at the time our paths crossed. Great to bring him in and thanks for your videos.
Matt! Great hearing from you. Very long time, no see :)
What a wonderful video. Made me smile. I'm lucky to also have a good relationship with my father. Was not till I got older I realised how special that is. We're lucky men. ☺️
It is a huge blessing-and to have him in good health... so few people get to have parents who live a long life, but also get to have a great relationship. I try to be that way for my kids too, though the four year old is currently in a strong Jekyll and Hyde phase!
I have boards with IPMI, but many of them are like: "If I'd known this particular IPMI was going to suck *this much*, I would've gone with a different board." But then, I'll bet they *all* suck in *different ways!* For example, Asrock X570D4U.... the framebuffer is 800x600 (not even 1024x768), and the serial-over-lan is wired up in hardware but not in BIOS.
I've watched a bunch of your videos on Pi stuff, and enjoyed them.
I've also heard you on several episodes of Talking Drupal, where you mentioned some of your Pi projects, and thought I must check them out.
Only just made the connection...
Great Dad interview, and your sister has a cute voice.
Great interview with your Dad, he is a super Dad !
Your Dad is Awesome!
I found a much cheaper solution to reboot locked up pi’s in my Kubernetes lab. I use a HomeKit power strip from Kasa. It costs $50 and I can remotely turn off and back on a any of my systems. This doesn’t handle the KVM part of course, but helps with automated reboot of nodes that get swamped.
Just using smart plug to reboot my remote PC, setup it to ON again after 5 second OFF. And they cost only 120.000 rupiah. Less than $10 ?
Great pic LOL! When I was about 15, my Dad who taught me everything he knew about computers(R.I.P.) had bought a new Gateway PC, and my little brother who was about 2 or 3 at the time, inserted a quarter into the floppy disk drive while it was idle and fried the computer.... My Dad was soooo bummed but said to me "Ya know what, it could've been worse, he could've stuck the quarter in his mouth instead".... What I found funniest was, he hadn't even seen an arcade machine yet!!
Just came here to say Hello to your dad. Now we know where all the techi-ness in Jeff comes from.. :). Sir! we would love to see more of you on this channel..God bless.
AWESOME, Dad and Mon, you did a great job w your "boy"! The videos are entertaining, interesting and helpful. Jeff, keep up the great work. I know you put MANY hours into them. PS, Love the bloopers!
Hi to your dad from Morocco, thanks for the video
Awesome video! I would like to know more about that cool clock setup made of needle gauges.
A RPI Compute Module 4 IO Board for PiKVM th-cam.com/video/aehOawHklGE/w-d-xo.html
This was an EXCELLENT video and I learned a lot. I gave up on waiting for the Pi-KVM so I sourced parts to build my own. Just as I sat down and started constructing it the Pi-KVM appeared on Kickstarter again!!! This time it will include a metal case kit with it!
Haha, now you can get two!
I have a project I would like to run across you. I love your content, and your Dad is awesome.
Lucky you for having such dad
I love your videos. They seem to be so in depth but not TOO in depth.
It's great you interviewed your dad. He's cool.
This channel is fueling my homelab addiction while I'm about to move
Hopefully your new place will have rom for a full rack!
Your dad was great. You should have him on more often.